1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a process for merging CAD (computer-aided design) vector files.
2. Problem to be Solved
In a typical CAD (computer-aided design) environment, data is added to drawings by multiple users or recipients. Each user first obtains a copy of the source drawing and then makes his or her own changes. Unfortunately, these different versions of the updated drawings cannot replace the original drawing because changes made by other recipients would then be overwritten and lost. In order to properly maintain these modified drawings, all versions of the drawings must be merged together to form a single updated source drawing.
Drawings on CAD systems are composed of graphical entities. Typically, multiple entities are combined into groupings called "shapes". Shapes are then combined into groupings called "patterns". Patterns are then combined into groupings called "views". As used herein, the terms "entities" and "groups of entities" shall be referred to herein as shapes, patterns and views. During the life of a drawing, updates are often made by adding, deleting or modifying shapes. Updates can also be made by changing the groupings of the shapes that make up the patterns and views. Each different modified version of the original drawing is typically referred to as a "different level" of the particular drawing.
Typically, the process of combining different levels of a single drawing into a new, updated drawing is performed by several methods. One conventional method is to manually transfer any changes or modifications from the updated drawings back to the original drawing. However, this method is very time consuming and difficult for complex drawings. Furthermore, this method is conducive to creating errors while manually transferring the modifications. In another conventional method, multiple versions of a particular drawing are first combined into a single composite drawing. Thus, the composite drawing has duplicates of any shapes that existed in both the original and updated drawings. The single composite drawing will also contain obsolete shapes from the original drawing that are modified or non-existent in the updated drawing. In order to complete the merge process, the user then manually deletes those duplicate and obsolete shapes using a standard CAD delete function. However, this manual method is also time consuming and difficult for complex drawings. Furthermore, this method is also susceptible to the creation of errors during the transfer process.
Bearing in mind the problems and deficiencies of conventional merging methods, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for merging CAD vector files which is automatic.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved merging process that significantly reduces the amount of time necessary to merge a plurality of CAD vector files.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved process for merging CAD vector files that significantly reduces the probability of error creation.